Machine for cleaning, softening, and drying tanned hides for robes.



PATENTBD JUNE 9, 1903.- S. D. CASTLE. I MACHINE FOR CLEANING, SOFTENING, AND DRYING TANNED HIDES FOR ROBES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2,1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

No. 730,815. PATENTED JUNE 9,1903.

S. D. CASTLE. MACHINE FOR CLEANING, SOFTENINC, AND DRYING TANNED HIDES EOE EOBES.

APPLIGATION'TILED FEB. 2, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented June 9, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL D.'OASTLE, OF OALLENDER, IOWA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JACOB BAYER, OF DES MOINES, IOWA.

MACHINE FOR CLEANING, SOFTENING, AND DRYING TANNED HIDES FOR ROBES.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent N 0. 730,815, dated June 9, 1903. Application filed February 2. 1903. Serial No- 141,623. (No model.)

To (all whom it 17mg concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL D. CASTLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Callender, in the county of lVebster and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Ma chine for Cleaning, Softening, and Drying Tanned Hides for Robes, of which the following is a specification.

My object is to save time and labor in finishing hides after they are tanned in a vat, especially hides with hair on and adapted to be used for robes.

Heretofore cleaning the hair from foreign substances, beating the fiber to make them soft, and drying them have required much time and manual labor in handling the hides and subjecting them to such different processes; and my invention consists in a machine adapted for doing all such Work simultaneously and is constructed as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation thereof from which parts of the exterior wall are broken away. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view that shows the interior construction and the positions of the diflerent operative parts relative to each other and a driving-shaft.

The numerals 10 and 11 designate the parallel sides, and 12 and 13 the ends, of a wall resting on a floor for inclo'sing a cylindrical rotatable cage adapted for inclosin g wet hides as they come from vats. One of the ends of the wall is removable and fastened by means of hooks and eyes or in any suitable way. Fixed to the outside of. the rear end portion of the parallel sides are uprights 14 and 15,

that are preferably connected with the joist of a ceiling in a building or otherwise supported to be retained stationary. At the central portion are uprights 16 and 17, fixed to the sides of the wall, as shown in Fig. 1, in a similar manner, and at their'sides are fixed uprights 18, in alinement with each other, that terminate above the wall, where they are bolted to the uprights l6 and 17, and between them in transverse openings are fixed metal bearings 20 to support trunnions.

A cylindrical and rotatable cage for inclosing and carrying hides is composed of mating closed sides 21 and 22 and cross-pieces 23, fixed to the sides by nailing or in any suitable way in such a manner-that there will be spaces between the parallel edges of the cross-pieces for the passage of water and heat. The sides are reinforced by fixing boards 24: to their inside faces to support metal trunnions 25, fixed to their outsides and centers by means of bolts or in any suitable way in such a manner that the trunnions will extend through the bearers 20 as required to mount and rotate the cage within the fixed wall. From a plurality of the cross-pieces in the cage project inward'fixed studs 26, that are rounded at their ends and adapted to pound the fiber of hides when inclosed and carried upward to fall downward upon the studs. A number of the cross-bars 23 of the cage are fixed to segments 27 and 28 to serve as a removable door through which access is gained to the cage for puttingin and taking out hides. One side of the cage has teeth 29, adapted to be engaged by a lantern-wheel 30, fixed to a shaft 31, mounted in bearings fixed to the uprights 14L'and 15, as shown in Fig. l, or in any suitable way. A belt-wheel 32 is fixed to the other end of the shaft and connected with a driving-shaft, as shown, or in any suitable way as required to impart a slow rotary motion to the cage when hides are placed therein. Coils of pipes 33 are located under the rotatable cage and connected with a steamgenerator in any suitable way in such a manner that steam and hot water can be circulated through the coils of pipe to radiate heat that will rise within the wall to warm the hides and to evaporate moisture as required to facilitate drying the hides at the same time that they are subjected to pounding by falling upon the studs and cross-pieces of the rotating cage as required to beat dirt and dust from the hair and to soften the fiber of the tanned hides.

The steam-pipe 34, leading to the generator, is provided with a valve 35 for regulating the passage of steam.

Having thus stated the purpose of my invention and its construction and operation, its practical utility will be readily understood by persons familiar with the art to which it pertains, and

ICO

' What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A machine for cleaning, softening and drying tanned hides comprising a wall, a rotatable cage mounted on the Wall and provided with studs on the inside and teeth on its outside, a rotatable shaft and a wheel at one end of the shaft to engage the teeth projecting from the cage, coils of pipe located. under the wheel and adapted to be connected with a supply-pipe and steam-generator and means for rotating the shaft and the cage, arranged and combined to operate in the manner set forth.

2. A machine for cleaning, softening and drying tanned hides comprising a rotatable cage having fixed studs projecting inward SAMUEL D. CASTLE.

Witnesses:

JAcoB BAYER, THOMAS G. ORWIG. 

